DemoCamp

SPNHC 2012 DemoCamp: Call for Demonstrations

Submissions of proposals are solicited for DemoCamp session presentations at the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) conference in New Haven, June 11-16, 2012. DemoCamp provides a venue for promotion of technological solutions to advance the field of museum curation with broad applications for biology and biodiversity informatics.

Computer demonstrations are welcomed in any technologies relevant to biologists, collections managers, or biodiversity information managers. Technologies demonstrated may include, among other things, collections/ transaction management software, data portals for biocollections consortia, georeferencing applications, and programs for analysis of data/ images. DemoCamp presentations should feature the latest developments in currently available products/ software/ applications as well as ongoing research projects and prototypes.

Live demonstrations of these technologies will raise awareness of new (and improved) tools available for data acquisition, documentation, and synthesis. Demonstrations will also provide a venue for idea exchange and feedback from potential users. Demonstration abstracts will appear in the conference proceedings, and this year the DemoCamp factsheet will be included in the program book.

Format

The strictly-timed format of a DemoCamp gives each presenter 15 minutes to present the demo plus 5 minutes allowed for set-up and questions (20 minutes total). No PowerPoints or other “canned” presentations are allowed. Only live demonstrations of functional software or applications may be presented.

Demonstrators must provide their own laptops with all necessary software installed. A projector and internet connection will be provided.

Submissions

Demonstration proposals (abstracts) must be submitted by April 13, 2012. Abstracts should be prepared according to the guidelines defined on the conference website (link) and must be submitted electronically following conference website instructions. The submissions will undergo peer review. At least one author should register and attend the conference.

The abstract should emphasize the purpose of the technology and the intended audience or users of the technology. What are the major components of the product? What is novel about the solution you present? Compare your technology with similar products if such exist. Is your product currently available to prospective users or still under development? Is your product proprietary or open source? Is it software or a web-based application?

In addition to the normal abstract submission requirements for SPNHC 2012, a COPY of your submitted abstract should be sent to the session organizer, Amanda Neill, at aneill@brit.org.

Accepted Abstracts

All submissions will be acknowledged within a few days. Proposals will be reviewed for relevance, innovation, technical quality, and greatest predicted appeal to the SPNHC audience. In the likely event of more submissions than available DemoCamp timeslots, final selection will be determined by subcommittee vote. Abstracts will be required to provide a description of technical details (licensing, platforms supported, etc.) in a standard factsheet that will be included in the printed program. A factsheet template will be e-mailed with the notification of acceptance.

Further details on the date and time of the demonstration session(s) will be determined and provided at a later date. Please send any inquiries to the session organizer at aneill@brit.org.